Future of the UND Football Program

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

8 hours ago, Irish said:

Some are right here on this board - a lot of complaining but little call for a new coach.

Bubba is likeable, seems like the public pretty much agrees with that - at least up to now. Maybe it be best to continue that?
A smooth slide into the AD office, or Alumni office, or something likeable is well over due.
The reason for the slide is to keep cohesion in the FB program along with someone from the present coaching staff given the reigns. There is a pretty good collection of players, coaches, and support staff on this team.

I believe this thread is named appropriately "Future of the UND Football Program" verses "Fire #$&&@" - just couldn't say it.
This slide should keep the program together verses having an exodus of players and coaches.  Otherwise it could be a few years setback. You know this team will be good next year, we'll get the W's with the .500 teams. NEED a GENERAL for the TOUGH BATTLES, lets start this this winter.

[Wilbur]

So with all these schools moving up from the "Subdivision" when are they just going to call a spade a spade and make it like all the other D1 sports where you're all FBS schools in football?

I mean we are losing Sam, James, Jackson, probably the Bizen soon, already lost Appalachian and Coastal.....

Just thinking out loud about the future of what may be a watered down FCS. 

[Midwestern Hawk]

7 hours ago, Wilbur said:

So with all these schools moving up from the "Subdivision" when are they just going to call a spade a spade and make it like all the other D1 sports where you're all FBS schools in football?

I mean we are losing Sam, James, Jackson, probably the Bizen soon, already lost Appalachian and Coastal.....

Just thinking out loud about the future of what may be a watered down FCS. 

Hopefully UND is discussing this and planning.   Soon P5 will turn into P4 and the gulf between P4 and G5 (G6) will get wider.  No question FCS will get watered down substantially as the top 10-15 FCS school make the jump to FBS.  
 

IMO, UND can’t make the same mistake it made 20 years ago and wait several years to make the jump to FBS.

[shep]

55 minutes ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

Hopefully UND is discussing this and planning.   Soon P5 will turn into P4 and the gulf between P4 and G5 (G6) will get wider.  No question FCS will get watered down substantially as the top 10-15 FCS school make the jump to FBS.  
 

IMO, UND can’t make the same mistake it made 20 years ago and wait several years to make the jump to FBS.

While you're probably right about the teams likely to go FBS, there's still going to be a large number that don't move up. 

Where is the money coming from for stadium renovations and NIL?

Would it be so bad to stay in the FCS?

Is it really better to try to make it to the Tidy Whitey Toilet Bowl some year?

[SiouxHawkGuy]

UND can win 6 games and make a bowl game and make a lot of $ or win 7 or 8 games and lose in the fcs playoffs. 

[Dustin]

2 hours ago, Midwestern Hawk said:

UND can’t make the same mistake it made 20 years ago and wait several years to make the jump to FBS.

While I don't see a viable option for NDSU to go FBS, 20 years ago most people thought FCS was a pipe dream too.  IF NDSU is pursuing that, I agree that we need to go right along with them.  One thing that needs to happen, and fast, is to not let NDSU continue to dominate FCS, especially with their main national competitors (JMU, SHSU, et al) gone.

[fightingsioux4life]

16 minutes ago, SiouxHawkGuy said:

UND can win 6 games and make a bowl game and make a lot of $ or win 7 or 8 games and lose in the fcs playoffs. 

These lower-tier bowl games make very little money or even lose money. Unless you are in the New Years Six or higher, you won't get much financial benefit.

[Wilbur]

According to the Fan Buzz website I searched on, the New Mexico bowl paid out about 1 Million dollars to Utah State a few years back for making the bowl game.  Tulane got $750,000 for playing in the "Cure Bowl".

The lowest I saw was Georgia Southern getting 250 grand for playing in the "Cameila Bowl".

How much did we get paid to go be the whipping boys for the FBS schools?

You could definitely put me on the edge in this conversation.  It would be cool to have a destination type bowl game every year, but you aren't winning a national championship ever again.  Which, at the same time is the fate of all the other sports not named hockey at our institution.   

[northernraider]

12 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

According to the Fan Buzz website I searched on, the New Mexico bowl paid out about 1 Million dollars to Utah State a few years back for making the bowl game.  Tulane got $750,000 for playing in the "Cure Bowl".

The lowest I saw was Georgia Southern getting 250 grand for playing in the "Cameila Bowl".

How much did we get paid to go be the whipping boys for the FBS schools?

You could definitely put me on the edge in this conversation.  It would be cool to have a destination type bowl game every year, but you aren't winning a national championship ever again.  Which, at the same time is the fate of all the other sports not named hockey at our institution.   

Let's not forget the payout is used to pay for all the expenses of the trip, so the net is far less. Sending a team to New Mexico for 5 or 6 days plus staff is not a cheap endeavor. 

[shep]

1 hour ago, northernraider said:

Let's not forget the payout is used to pay for all the expenses of the trip, so the net is far less. Sending a team to New Mexico for 5 or 6 days plus staff is not a cheap endeavor. 

Plus the other part of most bowl games is the teams have to purchase a ton of tickets and most do not make money on the bowl game.

Maybe heading to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl is how UND fans want to spend The week before Christmas but it’s not for everyone.

[gfhockey]

2 hours ago, Wilbur said:

According to the Fan Buzz website I searched on, the New Mexico bowl paid out about 1 Million dollars to Utah State a few years back for making the bowl game.  Tulane got $750,000 for playing in the "Cure Bowl".

The lowest I saw was Georgia Southern getting 250 grand for playing in the "Cameila Bowl".

How much did we get paid to go be the whipping boys for the FBS schools?

You could definitely put me on the edge in this conversation.  It would be cool to have a destination type bowl game every year, but you aren't winning a national championship ever again.  Which, at the same time is the fate of all the other sports not named hockey at our institution.   

Typically all the bowl money doesn’t go to a team

 

inbelive it goes to a conference pool and the conference distributes it

 

also most small colleges lose $$$ on bowl games as theirs a minimum tix need to be bought!

[UND1983]

Bowl games are a losing venture for small schools and bring very little back in the form of anything, really.  Might get some eyeballs on the program for a few hours one random December day/night but thats it.

[Mama Sue]

Future of UND football? Let’s concentrate on being the best program we can be right where we are.

whatever improvements or changes there needs to be, let’s do it.

[Siouxperfan7]

The "Split" that has been talking about happening anytime has been going on for years with nothing happened.  Now with all these FBS moves, it seems like it may gain more steam.  Money rules all.  I think that the B1G, Pac12, Big12, and SEC will break off to start their own league separate from the NCAA to maximize dollars they can bring in.  That leaves the the other 6 FBS conferences.  Who knows if the "second tier" will be formed of the remaining FBS schools and FCS schools, but if it is, UND absolutely needs to be a part of the second tier.  Will these teams be considered FBS?  who knows.  Biggest issue is finding a conference for all these new FBS teams.  

[The Sicatoka]

16 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

Money rules all.  

And the contract renegotiations (in 2025, for television and FBS playoffs) are screaming towards us. 

[The Sicatoka]

18 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

... UND absolutely needs to be a part of the second tier.  

Let's hope we've learned our lesson and are ready this time when change comes, presents itself, and happens with or without us. 

[NDRA]

So it looks like Bubba was 22-21, about like here, in his other HC job.  What was thinking behind him somehow making a great improvement on that previous record?

[Wilbur]

1 hour ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

The "Split" that has been talking about happening anytime has been going on for years with nothing happened.  Now with all these FBS moves, it seems like it may gain more steam.  Money rules all.  I think that the B1G, Pac12, Big12, and SEC will break off to start their own league separate from the NCAA to maximize dollars they can bring in.  That leaves the the other 6 FBS conferences.  Who knows if the "second tier" will be formed of the remaining FBS schools and FCS schools, but if it is, UND absolutely needs to be a part of the second tier.  Will these teams be considered FBS?  who knows.  Biggest issue is finding a conference for all these new FBS teams.  

Well said.  I think if/when those major conferences break away and do their own thing UNDS needs to have a plan of action in place.  IMHO I could see the NCAA just saying "okay, everyone left in D1 is division 1."  There are roughly 70 power 5 schools.  Right now there is like 130 teams in FBS football.  So you've got a leftover of 60 FBS teams after the split.  I just can't see the NCAA letting there be 60 teams in the top division of their football.  I guess you could see what is left of the top division cherry picking the FCS schools they'd like to add to their conferences.  

The next few years will be interesting when it comes to NCAA football.  Will they bow down and let the big dogs collect more to keep them in the NCAA?

[The Sicatoka]

4 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Will they bow down and let the big dogs collect more to keep them in the NCAA?

Likely. Why?

March Madness. 

If you don't let the P5 dominate college football they could break off entirely and go their own way. They'd take football ... and the high number of eyeballs (TV dollars) that is March Madness. The Gonzagas and Marquettes and DePauls of the world (no FB) would be completely screwed thus they'll put up with the SEC shoving around NCAA football. 

[Irish]

2 hours ago, Mama Sue said:

Future of UND football? Let’s concentrate on being the best program we can be right where we are.

whatever improvements or changes there needs to be, let’s do it.

Good point - the problem is that Bubba is almost pathologically resistant to change - hell, it took him 5 years to get rid of Rudy.  And our AD (who I once thought would do a great job) seems to be content to let program after program implode.  Not sure where any change is coming from.  

[The Sicatoka]

1 hour ago, Irish said:

Not sure where any change is coming from.  

Change normally comes from the very top or the very bottom. 

[Irish]

21 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

Change normally comes from the very top or the very bottom. 

Not disagreeing, but do you see any serious push for change from either direction here?  I'm pretty sure next year we will get another dose of Bubba Ball.  

[VMeister]

5 hours ago, NDRA said:

So it looks like Bubba was 22-21, about like here, in his other HC job.  What was thinking behind him somehow making a great improvement on that previous record?

Chris Klieman had a 3-7 coaching record when he took over down south.

[UND1983]

30 minutes ago, VMeister said:

Chris Klieman had a 3-7 coaching record when he took over down south.

Once again for those not paying attention,  everyone wins at NDSU.  

[Shawn-O]

5 hours ago, NDRA said:

So it looks like Bubba was 22-21, about like here, in his other HC job.  What was thinking behind him somehow making a great improvement on that previous record?

God forbid we get some bright, young, ambitious coach that becomes wildly successful here only to *gasp* leave Grand Forks after four or five seasons.   Hire someone along those lines, someone who leaves the program in a better state than which they found it.  Talk to some of the old timers here about their time with Gene Murphy, I bet they wouldn't trade those two years for the world.   Granted, Gene was a promotion from the inside.   

Screw this "we're in a position to win games".  You are what your record says you are.